Breakfast and lunch were OP. I was in a meeting during my normal snack time and my choice was to eat my snack or to change clothes and get down to Pilates and only be a couple of minutes late. Pilates won!! Big credit for that.

It was an interesting 'class'--the trainer held it in the exercise room and had 5 of us in there--at different levels doing different things! She wanted to be sure that another woman and I who are new to her class would be comfortable with the movements. She was running one of the guys ragged. Another guy was not quite as strenuous and the third woman was also "getting back into things". It was fun--and although I think my abs will complain tomorrow, I feel confident that I'll be able to keep up and benefit from the classes.

I started adding more spontaneous walking to my day and my FitBit says I'm barely under 5000 steps for the day. 10,000 seems unattainable right now, but I'm sure I can work my way up to it. I tend to be 'efficient' with my tasks, including moving from one spot to another. I decided today to focus on increasing steps, so I took the roundabout way to every meeting and the restroom (even to the point of going to a different floor). So, my goal is to be less efficient and more motion-y. (not a word, I know) As soon as the weather breaks, I'll start parking at the far end of the parking lot--I claim a pass as long as it's in the teens and single digits!

Dinner wasn't as planned (change in an evening meeting) but I made pretty good choices with a last minute choice. (Chinese takeout, and I measured my portions so I wouldn't overeat.) (I picked up two meals--one would have been enough for the two of us.)

Diet Coaches
I was not under the 197.4 - but I wasn't over either so hope continues to burn. I want one dancing vegetable or being sometime real soon now.

Credits for today:
Ate on plan
Met my exercise goal
Planned food for today and defrosted and organised (a downsized) dinner before I left for work
Checked out my Advantage / Response cards - I have them on iPad
Reduced my To Do list

AZtricia - I hope you like the dill-pickles. You can make cheese or lebneh out of the kefir but I haven't gone there yet but it is a good idea. At the moment I am trying to get the timing right depending on the temperature. When I get there I will look at other things to do! Yay for lost another pound - really worth a celebration. Not sure if you are sad about the reduced calories or...? MFP keeps upping my calories based of exercise but I ignore it because I want to stick to less than 1500 and might even lower that. Can't wait to see your tracker!

BillBlueEye - I liked the fact that the Sears catalogue gave me the price of a snow thrower in $AUD! That would be useful to about 1 square KM of Australia (I am exaggerating of course). They look like very useful beasts - and surprisingly inexpensive! Ouch for a gift of chocolate brownies - good you have a plan for spreading them over weeks.Yay for back to pecans and normalcy

ForMyGirls - exemplary report card - great that you could forego hot chocolate for fruit - mind you what were you thinking wanting hot chocolate in this weather?!

FLNU - Welcome and thanks for the introduction. You seem to be really organised! and yes it is lovely to have all these people who are maintaining and can show the way. Not many rules here that you can inadvertently break - you will get the hang of it in no time. I will leave it to our list moderator to properly welcome you

Nationalparker - your food sounds really on track. Great that you recognised the difference between wanting more versus being full. Mashed potatoes beckon so you did well

BethFromDayton - Great choice between snack or pilates. The class sounds interesting and well structured. Adding in incidental exercise is a great way to increase your steps and credit for using "the long way" to achieve it. You are avoiding walking in teens and single digits, and I am trying to walk before 6.30am because it is too hot and humid after that. Can't beat the planet really

GardenerJoy - waving - I can't remember if you were going away but I notice your absence? I had to go back 7 pages to find that you were going to drive 4 hours each way to do a family meeting - hope all is well

Credits for my day:
- felt like i was really "in the groove" with planning today - actually checked my plan to see what was on the menu and doing the planning tonight was superfast as i am establishing a bunch if standard meals in MFP
- the big stress in my life required some attention today and i quickly and decisively put paid to the "it's been a draining day therefore i deserve ..." Thought. In fact i didn't even get as far as filling in the dots before i sent that thought packing.

Flnu - welcome - and for the record i think you are posting just the right amount. I laughed a lot reading your post, especially about the bed time business. I sooooo know that deal! You sound like you are well and truly in the Beck zone so am glad you found us.

Beth - woohoo for choosing Pilates. It sounds like you have scored a great trainer! And i hear you in the challenge of 10,000 steps. The only time in my life i have realiably achieved the step count was when i was home with a 10 month old and a 2 year old.

Seadwaters - hot chocolate appears to be unrelated to the weather for me. Same as icecream - i am sure i could crave it in the midst of a blizzard :-)

__________________
Part 1 July 2013 106.4kg to Feb 2014 90.4kg Part 2 Aug 2014 97.3kg to ?? Part 3 Jan 2015 102.3kg to

Diet Coaches/Buddies – Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including snacks incrementing the streak to 64. DW offered a portion of brownie as part of dinner but I declined - two days in a row would be too much indulgence in baked stuff. She went ahead. I'm happy with that - glad to see the volume decreasing. Sometimes marriage just works out. I had an orange for evening snack - one that was juicy and tasty.

Running the new snow thrower was primary exercise, CREDIT moi. It isn't the same exercise for the back as shoveling, but it exercises muscles controlling the machine. About an equal amount of time was spent with a shovel for the places that required it. Took a walk, CREDIT moi, in the fresh snow to the library to swap some books. They were quiet since the schools were closed.

Cheryl (seadwaters) – It's a Kudos day when you reduce your to-do list. [LOL at Sears pricing snow throwers in $AUD - perhaps to sell them at a freak show.]

nationalparker – Apparently, getting to sleep on time is today's topic. Good luck coming to grips with that. Kudos for a nice dinner. (I'm a fan of Midnight in Paris.)

Motion-y Beth (bethFromDayton) – Impressed that your Pilates trainer kept five of you going at different levels. Kudos for your openness to new exercises.

ForMyGirls - Neat to exchange fruit for hot chocolate. Super Kudos for recognizing the Sabotaging Thought, "it's been a draining day therefore i deserve ..."

AZtricia - LOL at the thought of your scale approving of your dinner choice. 1.5 lbs per week is a healthy trend. I found that my trend slowed as I approached my final weight. It took me several weeks to know that I had stopped.

flnu - The group here has learned to serve as Diet Coach for each other and welcome you to join that process. Huge Kudos, indeed, for following an eating plan for the fancy hotel dinner - that's a big one.

Super insight, "getting good sleep is my lynchpin" - it's so easy to get involved in a book and ignore higher priorities - done that many times myself. Glad that you've joined us.

Readers -

Quote:

day 11Differentiate Between Hunger, Desire, and Cravings

Think about times in the past when you've leisurely finished a rather large meal, perhaps when eating out at a restaurant or during a family celebration. I wonder if you ever had such thoughts as, I'm still hungry ... I think I'll have seconds ... I'm hungry for dessert.

Thanks for the welcome! I am trying to remember what prompted me 7 days ago to pick up the book, and I'm failing. I've been overweight and not dieting for many years, so you'd think I'd remember a change like that. For the forum, that's easy. On Day 6, I went a-googling. I picked this one because it is active, long-standing, and explicitly references the Beck diet. So we're all coaches here, not just particular people?

Streak days for bed/exercise/diet: 1/11/11.

My current sabotaging thought is, yeah, yeah, you're doing well...for now. Just wait until the honeymoon's over then you'll see. Helpful response: Why assume the worst? I'm learning and practicing new skills that I didn't have before. It will make a difference. Besides, I already committed to the program. Just enjoy the honeymoon for as long as it lasts, and don't borrow trouble.

Day 7 is about changing your environment. My home environment is already great. My work environment is not so bad. I will not be asking the other 50 some odd people in my office to look for their communal snacks in the cupboards, but I will route myself away from the snack tables. This was an easy day.

Beth: You pushed me over the edge, and I just bought a fitbit. Thanks for the nudge.

AZtricia: I'm sending you mojo for pizza night. Pizza is a really, really hard one for me.

'Supurb Satisfies" is so true. I was able to have just one slice of pizza yesterday, choose my favorite, and ate with small bites and paying attention...found one was definately enough and it was pleasent to not end up over full. When I arrived back home, saw the pizza boxes and my tongue wanted more! Credit for recognizing craving vs hunger and exercising my resistance muscle. Still no siggy option, maybe tomorrow. My dh is getting a cold, doggie is still coughing/fighting kennel cough, and tomorrow/Friday is going to be a crazy run-around, need to be two places at once kind of day.

Did exercise yesterday, will walk the dog today at least twice, should do my exercise DVD but for some reason my mind is resistant. Eating OP, Exercise OP, still strugling with ARC reading & maybe that is why I dont want to exercise, or is it just because I'm tired?

bethFromDayton WhooHoo for exercise over snack Sounds like you had a great trainer. Congrats for nearing 5000 steps/day. Love your new word, I need to be more motiony too! Brrr to your weather

seadwaters Congrats for planning and sticking to it! Sorry about the discouraging scale #'s. I'm OK with reduced calories, I just needed not to see that 3000 was ok! That made it too easy too eat 2000 and think it was still good. I know from experience that 1700 or under is best for me to loose.

ForMyGirls Hurray for the planning groove . Great job for recognizing your thoughts and dismissing them for more helpful ones. Congrats on your streak!

BillBlueEyes Hurray for the strong brownie resistance muscle Good thought about weight loss slowing nearer the goal, I will keep that in mind and try not to get discouraged.

flnu We are coach/buddies to each other from what I can tell. An opportunity to get involved in daily accountability and encourage others on the same path. Great helpful response, love it! As long as you never quit, you will reach your goals. You will have tough spots and even fail sometimes, but the sooner you get back on the better...Beck is very practical that way.

Comp day today and day off tomorrow so I have big plans. I am tackling my - wait for it - sewing room. (She runs in circles screaming in the living room). This is my plan: I have been disciplined in donating clothes as I have lost weight. Since my first day with Beck till today I have gone from a size 12 to a size 8. What a terrific journey. I have only kept what fits perfectly and makes me feel happy. I have read lots of Project 333 posts on minimalist wardrobes. I am now ready to empty my huge chest of drawers in my room, organize the little that was left in there into my walk in, and move ALL my sewing and craft stuff into the drawers. That will leave the deacon's bench my father built empty for all my scrapbooks and personal items which I have heretofore ignored because they were literally stuffed into all nooks and corners.

Just another example of how freeing myself from food addiction has freed up space for other things in my life.

Yesterday was OP. Plan is for Pilates workout this afternoon as a break from organizing.

AZTricia: I remember my amazement when Beck talked about hunger in the mouth vrs stomach. I had never been that self aware. It is very helpful information.

Flnu: Welcome. There is a lot of recovery here. Some of us have one on one coaches. I use this bog as my coach.

We went for sushi for dinner--and I ate too much :-(. I did my best to record it, though. I probably would have eaten more, but I don't use chopsticks often enough for it to come easy so that slowed me down!

No extra exercise today--it was too cold to be outside. Ended up with 4100 steps. Tomorrow is the circuit training class at lunch time--I'm looking forward to it!

I've got my gym bag packed, a note on my purse to remind me to grab my lunch (which I'll go pack after this), and then I'll pack for our big weekend party. I intend to report in on Sunday night as being successful with my approach--record everything, eat only sitting down, and no sweets until after dinner.

Cold day here, too. Drain froze up again, along with some pipes. DH spent the past few hours after getting home from work sawing through a cabinet to see what the situation was and how it was plumbed. I steer clear. Now he'll rent a blower to blow insulation in (my idea) after he said we'd need to pull out the tub and all tile, etc. I'm counting a point for myself on the home improvement idea chart. I never get points there

Food has been okay today - on track and satisfied. I planned an ind. bag of real potato chips - nothing baked or faked and it hit the spot.

Eye dr. appt. tomorrow and then working the rest of the day from home. Looking forward to being able to be cozy. Going down to -5 tonight - we're almost there already. Wind chill warning still in place. Hard to breathe when walking outside.

Bill - Thank you for that note on hunger/desire/cravings. I saw the whipped cream in the fridge and thought, oh, small sundaes would be a nice treat. Even if I did just the half cup of ice cream, light choc drizzle, whip cream and cherry, that's still 200 calories we don't need. I'll save that for the weekend. It was a desire. Not a craving or being hungry. Good to recognize that.

Beth - We do the one Chinese meal for two as well from a place near us, and have a leftover serving for DH to take to work. All for $7.75. Now and then we do separate because he wants to venture away from my routine chicken

This morning I was under 197 (196.8) which meant I had lost 5 pounds - I was very quick to change my signature. I don't care if my weight is up tomorrow morning - i am in ONEderland and I have lost 5lb at last!

I am going out to breakfast tomorrow morning and it will be difficult. I haven't eaten with these people since last Chinese New Year and I am seeing them tomorrow and the following Saturday for Yum Cha. Tomorrow it is breakfast at a dog park up where i used to live. They are lovely people but they are food pushers! One of the group has had gastric banding and they keep encouraging her to eat. No matter how often I say I am on a diet and can't have wheat it falls on deaf ears. I will need to starve the rest of the day to deal with the calories, and then deal with the after affects of food sensitivities after that. They are special people and I need them in my life so I need to find a lifetime plan.

I was totally derailed by Maryann's posting about Project 333 - I had to go and find out about it and then I was hooked! I need to fix my wardrobe

Good topic for today - hunger vs craving vs desire. It caused me to think about what and how much I should eat today. And I reduced the amount of dinner and lunch

Credits for today
Had a plan and stuck to it
Ate less than usual
Completed my steps - just!
Did some more things off my to do list

Diet Coaches/Buddies – At the time I wished that I was at the gym, I was dealing with why my old Toyota won't pass inspection when I took it in last week. Ouch. Maybe a tiny CREDIT moi for dealing with reality as required from time to time even when it's not what I want. Life would be easier if I shifted the month of my inspection to summer when it was more comfortable to hang around a gas station. I'm not done yet; there's another round.

Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi, including snacks to get my streak to 65. My only snack was a so-so orange for evening snack. (No brownie. I'm not even thinking about them. Not on my mind.) There's only three oranges left in the fridge to work through so that I can go buy a new bag of California's best. Dinner was white bean soup so I was a vegetarian for the day. My Beck event was when I was cutting slices of cheese to make the cheese-toast we sometimes have with soup. I had the urge to pop a slice into my mouth - as I used to do before my Journey. It wasn't hunger, hardly even desire, just habit!

Cheryl (seadwaters) – Congrats for that dancing carrot. Ouch for having to face food pushers with Kudos for making a plan to stay your path anyway.

nationalparker – Ouch for the continuing problems with frozen plumbing. Congrats for choosing a DH was jumps right in to solve them. Kudos for skipping the small Sundays - though they would seem to contradict the notion of so cold the pipes are freezing.

Beth (bethFromDayton) – I used to believe that chopsticks were the real secret of thin Asians - until I watched some using chopsticks faster than I could use my fork. Kudos for attitude per, "I intend to report in on Sunday night as being successful."

AZtricia - Kudos, indeed, for "for recognizing craving vs hunger and exercising my resistance muscle." Loved reading that you enjoyed one slice of pizza - seems important to me that we continue to have the foods that we love but in planned quantities.

flnu - Yep, you're a Coach for us; we're all in this together. Perhaps someday Dr. Judith Beck will write about being an on-line Diet Coach. Until then, we all just wing it. Kudos for the "Helpful response: Why assume the worst?" Find myself doing that one more than I want.

Readers -

Quote:

day 11Differentiate Between Hunger, Desire, and Cravings

If so, you confused hunger with a desire to eat. Today's task will help you figure out when you're truly hungry, so you can tell yourself, Okay, I've finished the food I planned to eat for this meal, and I'm still hungry ... But that's okay ... It might take my brain 20 minutes to send a message to my body that I'm full ... I'll wait to see how I feel in 20 minutes.

High five to AZtricia for enjoying pizza night. Well-done. So what's your plan to break through on the ARCs? You could post a few here every day to get over the hump. I would join you. You could make a commitment here to read them at a specific time tomorrow. What's your reminder system? Anything to tweak there? I have my iPad play chimes at me twice a day. (The first day I forgot I had done that, and I actually went looking for the really persistent and annoying wind chime that would not shut up! Inconsiderate neighbors! Oh. Never mind.)

I’m very glad that Cheryl got her dancing carrot. Even if your weight does bounce around tomorrow, it’s bouncing around at a new, lower weight. I also like Project 333 that Maryann mentioned. I’m not implementing to the letter but I did put away a bunch of my least favorite clothes. It was great! I had to dig out something from the put-away-drawer (my girls wanted me to put fancy play clothes on) and saw a pair of pants that I hate but was determined to wear because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, and I was so glad that they’re not in my closet, being ugly, and luring me into dressing ugly on principle. Really, what was I thinking? And it’s made me more creative with what’s left in my closet. Win. Cheryl: Credit for meeting your steps goal. How many do you shoot for? Maryann and BBE: I am so inspired by you maintainers. And really all the people that keep sticking to it.

Beth: Credit for tracking it, credit for laying down the plans for tomorrow and taking actions, credit for just moving on from eating more than you wanted (and not letting be an excuse for derailing completely, although since you’ve been at this for a year I imagine you are very good at persisting. I hope to be as persistent.)

Nationalparker’s comment on hunger makes me thinking of learning, “Hunger is not an emergency.” If you had asked me, I wouldn’t have said that I thought it was, but it is such a calming thought for me that I think I must have just been deluding myself previously.

Day 8 is make time for dieting. Ok. 7-8 am is for exercising. 12-12:30 (last half of my lunch hour) is for reviewing the book and working on my workbook. I will put that on my work calendar right after this post. 8-9 pm is for talking with my coaches, and when I get to Day 14, for writing down my meal plans (I already track using my fitness pal, advanced tracking shouldn’t be too hard I hope), and reviewing my check lists.

I would really like to get back in the habit of regular posting, but with my work schedule, I am not sure that is realistic. I have a bad pattern of setting up unrealistic expectations in about every area of my life and then disappointing myself.

I have gained back a bunch of weight that I had gotten rid of "forever". But, it only is "forever" if you stick with the healthy habits. I got up early this morning, which felt great, but then over indulged in an off-plan breakfast. Oh Well! I am being accountable here! I have been trying to decide if I should go back on my fairly restricted eating plan or not. It may not be the best time, but I AM impatient for the weight to be gone!

Since I haven't been around, can someone point me to a post or explain what the days/points that you are counting are?

AZTricia: Great job for you on savoring your bite of the best. That is wonderful! Also, credit for the OP day.

BethfromDayton: You deserve major credit for prepping for today so well! Great job! Sushi always throws me off when trying to track it. I've never found a great nutrient breakdown for the different types, in spite of the fact you find pretty much the same thing at different places.

BillBlueEyes: I am sorry to hear about your car woes. We had similar inspections when I lived in the Chicago-area. But, here in Indiana, I just feel guilty not having it done. Great job keeping your new habits at hand with the cheese slicing!

FLNU: Welcome! I like your response to the thought of "wait until the honeymoon's over". I need to incorporate something like that in to my ARC too. I have a BodyMedia Fit. I have found it helped me get real about my skewed perceptions about the physical activity I get in a day. I hope you enjoy your FitBit.

Maryann: How did the clean out go? I cleaned out my closet, but the boxes never made it to Goodwill. When I gained back some weight, it was helpful to have it there, but, I was sad to sift through those clothes again. I get hung up with sewing, because I always think I am going to change size as soon as I make something. The truth is, my weight loss is so slow, I am sure I would still get use out of the clothes made from my huge stash of hand-me-down fabric. How do you handle that?

Nationalparker: Credit to you for hanging in there with your food plan in the midst of household chaos. I hope you have an easy time at the optometrist today.

Seadwaters: CONGRATULATIONS! That is fantastic news to read. Good luck on eating out with food pushers. I've read other posters that suggest you should remember that celebrations aren't about the food, but about the event. (I've not gotten that to work for me in practice though.) Good luck!

Today’s Essentials:
Weigh-in: +0.5 lbs.
Read Advantage Cards two times: not yet
Read Response Cards at least two times: not yet
Ate slowly, sitting down, noticing every bite: ½ credit; I was seated, but read while I ate
Gave myself credit when I engaged in helpful eating behaviors: yes
Did spontaneous exercise: *
Did planned exercise: not yet
Wrote out food plan for tomorrow: not yet
Tracked today’s food: yes, so far
Left food on my plate: no
Ate only to normal fullness: ehh, I could have done better eating more slowly
Identified and responded to a self-deluding thought: identified, but still ate more of my breakfast treat

* Exercise right now is pre-hab (PT). I fell skiing just before Christmas, fractured my tibia, completely tore my ACL, partially tore my MCL and meniscus, and damaged the surrounding muscles. Surgery is next week...

__________________

Things I'm Most Looking Forward To:
More E-N-E-R-G-Y
Buying stylish, not oversized clothes
Being a healthy role-model for my nephews, students, and godson
Horsebackriding without guilt

Glad that my Wardrobe Organizing Project resonated with some of you. I am happy to say I finished Phase 1 Yesterday. Two more bags were donated (and that was after I had been ruthless last month). But I was just overcome with willingness.

A good example of the willingness is I have one draw for workout clothes in my walk in. 4 pairs of yoga pants would not fit. One of those pants I wore last week and I thought "Wow, I always choose this pair last because they are faded and ten years old but there is nothing really wrong with them." I realized three pairs fit my laundry cycle. So out the faded pants went. The whole day was like that. Is it old? Is it ugly. Maybe someone else is just waiting for my new, gapping button down. It felt terrific.

I am ashamed to say that when I clean my husband's half of the closet (usually untouched because he is a mini hoarder and I just let him deal with it) there was 1 inch of dust. A visual for you: his red beret from his eagle scout days was GRAY. So everything that needed to be preserved is now going to the dry cleaners. And all other memorabilia is in acid free boxes.

To answer FutureFitChick's question about tossing larger sizes: I had a huge awakening when I first started Beck. I realized that hanging onto clothes that were too big was my mind's subconscious belief that I could never be small. I started to let this belief go by saying to myself "I will only have clothes in my closet that look good." When I starter Beck I deliberately bought two brand new pairs of size 12/14 capris knowing I would be out of them soon. But they looked nice and got me through summer and fall. Because of Project 333, I knew I didn't have to buy much else. I felt well dressed for three whole months and was back down to a 10 by winter. I donated those new pants even though they were hardly worn to show my commitment to never going back.

This started me on my slow road. It took me another year and a half to move to a solid 8 but I got there and loved it. This winter I found the perfect Talbot size for me - curvy 6 dress pants. I invested in two nice, seasonless pairs and those,when paired with my Jones New York suit pants (which were listed on my advantage cards ), make me all set for work.